For A Minute
by GreyAngel21
Summary: Set years after Not Fade Away Angel did get his Shaunshu, but at a price.


"For A Minute" – Short Story

Angel/Buffy

Angel reached his arms around her petite waist and put his chin on her shoulder. The sun beaming warmly on their backs.

" I want to freeze this moment." Buffy said, leaning into Angel's embrace.

" Anything's possible." He whispered, he could feel the side of her face move as she smiled at the comment.

Her hands slid down and meet his; she intertwined her fingers with his and pulled away from him, walking down the beach. After a few minutes Angel spotted a stick, be bent down, stopping them both, to pick it up.

" What are you doing?" Buffy smiled at him

" I want the whole world to know I love you." He said and turned his back to her to write ' I LOVE YOU' in the sand, " there. Of course when the tide comes in it'll be gone, but whatever." He laughed and turned around and found Buffy standing mile from her previous spot on the beach in the middle of the ocean, like she was walking on water.

A sad, pleading look adorned her face as his eyes meet hers.

_' We were walking 'long the ocean_

_Together hand in hand_

_When I stopped to write "I love you" in the sand _

_And when I looked up you were standing _

_Ten miles out at sea '_

" BUFFY!" Angel screamed his eyes shooting open finding himself in his bed, not on the beach. He sighed when he realized it was just a dream.

He laid back down shutting his eyes. His arms slowly reaching out to hold her as the sun began to peak threw the curtains of the window, but found nothing but an empty space and the pillow that used to hold her head. But for a minute there…

' _And in a sweat_

_I woke up from that crazy dream_

_As I reached to hold you in the morning light_

_It was just your pillow I clung to so tight_

_For a minute there_

_I thought it was you_

_For a minute there_

_My prayers had finally come true_

_For a minute there_

_I began again to live_

_What I wouldn't give_

_For just a minute there '_

He slowed his car down as the traffic light turned from yellow to red. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. It had been a long day at work, and he was greatful to have finally gotten away from the hectic office building that now held his business. Sometimes he was welcomed the distraction from what had now become his life, but today was not one of those days.

The sorrow filled eyes of the people that littered the building. Coming more from the people that the couple had known since Buffy's teenage years. They more then anyone else in the building knew what today meant to him, what it was doing to his heart.

He lifted his head off the back of the seat just in time to see the figure slowly walk past the front of his car.

" Buffy," He whispered clutching the steering wheel.

He threw open his car door and jumped out, ignoring the car horns and the yells coming from the people as the light turned green.

_' Five o' clock on Friday_

_Sitting at a light_

_When this angel walked right by me_

_On my right_

_And the cars all started honking_

_As my feet hit the ground '_

" BUFFY!" He yelled running to catch up with her.

As he got closer he could smell the familiar vanilla sent that she always held. The way she was walking, the perfect shade of blonde that her hair held, he could see it all.

" Buffy." He said grabbing her shoulder.

When the girl turned around he realized his mistake. The smell, hair and walk may have been the same but her eyes weren't Buffy's green, but an unfamiliar blue, " sorry I thought you were someone else."

Even the smile she gave him as she accepted his apology wasn't hers. But for a minute there…

_' And thought I chased and called_

_You never turned around_

_Oh the walk, the hair, the perfume_

_Were the same_

_How I wished she would have answered_

_To you're name_

_For a minute there_

_I thought it was you_

_For a minute there_

_My prayers had finally come true_

_For a minute there_

_I began again to live_

_What I wouldn't give_

_For just a minute there '_

He held the flowers tight in his hand as he walked up the grass hill, to the place that held the only woman he would ever love. The tears began to form in his eyes when the silhouette of her head stone became visible. Tears were flowing freely by the time he placed the flowers in the vase Willow had buried next to the stone.

" Hi, love." He whispered, kneeling in front of her name.

He never knew of the sacrifice she had made for him until the day the powers had began taking her away

**(2 Years Ago)**

Angel stood outside her hospital room barely listening to the doctor telling him that she wasn't responding to any kind of treatment they gave her, that her body just rejected any thing they gave her. And that the cancer that had taken over her body was spreading fast to the places it hadn't yet invaded.

All Angel could do was shake his head after the doctor walked away. After battling and killing vampires nightly, and defeating various demons that constantly attempted to destroy the world, Cancer was going to kill her, painfully. Something so unsupernatural in someone that was anything but. He couldn't grasp the concept of his wife, the woman that had brought him from the edge, lying in a hospital room, pain continuously raking her now fragile body. How could the powers let something like this take away one of their greatest warriors. When that thought passed threw his mind he grabbed his coat and left the hospital.

He drove for an hour until he had reached his destination. He jumped out of his car and stormed into the small shop.

" I want to see them." Angel told the man who appeared from behind somewhere.

" Angel you know the rules…" The being began

" I don't care." He gave a low growl.

The man shook his head and motioned for Angel to follow him. He was taken deep into the back where the oracles where now housed. The powers had seen fit a new duo be placed on earth once more, this time with much more protection then the last siblings.

" Angel, how nice to see you." The female greeted him.

" Why is she dying? Why are the powers letting this happen?" Angel demanded.

" The powers aren't letting this happen. They are causing it to happen." The male answered.

The answer floored Angel. The powers were killing Buffy. That couldn't possible be true.

" Why? What did she do to deserve this kind of painful death."

" You don't know?" The female questioned.

" His slayer has been keeping secrets from him. The male said in amazement.

" What are you talking about?" Angel said becoming frustrated.

" Your slayer gave her life for yours." The male said.

" I don't understand."

" You signed away this life, your shanshu. She traded her life so you could have this one." The female explained to the confused man in front of her.

" It's been 6 years since I've becoming human."

" Yes, she was told the implications of her trade. The powers would collect when they saw fit.

**(Present)**

Angel still remembered that day so crystal clear, just like it happened yesterday. When he had told her he knew she had cried and said she couldn't let him give up what he had worked so hard for, and that the last 6 years of her life had been the best and she wouldn't take back any part of her life from then on. Then made him swear on their love he won't go back to the oracles and reverse what was done.

He placed his hand on the head stone and looked up at the sky at the stars and found one shinning brighter then all the others. A smile spread across his face as the wind blew. And for a minute he knew she was there.

_' Tonight the stars in heaven_

_Are bright as they can be_

_And I swear one of them_

_Is winking down at me_

_What I wouldn't give_

_How I'd love to live_

_For just a minute there '_


End file.
